APA Style (7th Edition) Citation Guide: Newspaper Articles

Newspaper Article From a Website

Newspaper Article From a Library Database

Newspaper Article In Print

Newspaper Article with an Unknown Author

Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Below is a link to an APA sample paper that contains instructions about how to format a hanging indent in a paper.

Not sure whether your article is from a newspaper? Look for these characteristics:

• Main purpose is to provide readers with a brief account of current events locally, nationally or internationally.
• Can be published daily, semiweekly or weekly.
• Articles are usually written by journalists who may or may not have subject expertise.
• Written for the general public, readers don't need any previous subject knowledge.
• Little, if any, information about other sources is provided.

Articles may also come from journals or magazines.

Author

If an item has no author, start the citation with the article title.

If, and only if, the article is signed "Anonymous", put the word Anonymous where you would normally place the author's name.

Titles

Italicize titles of journals, magazines and newspapers. Do not italicize or use quotation marks for the titles of articles.

Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the article title. If there is a colon in the article title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.

Dates

If an item has no date, use the short form n.d. where you would normally put the date.

Retrieval Dates

Most articles will not need these in the citation. Only use them for online articles from places where content may change often, like a free website or a wiki.

Page Numbers

If an article has no page numbers provided, leave that part of the citation out in the References List.

If an article doesn't appear on continuous pages, list all the page numbers the article is on, separated by commas. For example (4, 6, 12-14)

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper. URL

Note: If the article is on continuous pages put a dash (-) between the first and last page numbers. If the article appears on discontinuous page numbers, give all page numbers separated with commas between them.

Example:

Brody, J. E. (2007, December 11). Mental reserves keep brain agile. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/11/health/11iht-11brod.8685746.html

Note: This entry has no page numbers, so this information is left out of the citation.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Brody, 2007)

In-Text Quote:

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number if available)

Example: (Brody, 2007)

Note: This entry has no page numbers, paragraph numbers, or section headings so this information is left out of the in-text citation.

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper, SectionPage if Given. 

Note: For newspaper articles from library databases, include the newspaper title and any volume/issue/page numbers that are provided. Do not include the database information.

Example:

Kidd, K. (2011, August 7). Cart blanche: City of Portland celebrates sidewalk dining with minimal rules for food carts. The Toronto Star, A5.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Kidd, 2011)

In-Text Quote:

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number if available)

Example: (Kidd, 2011, p. A5)

Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper, SectionPage.

Note: If the article is on continuous pages put a dash (-) between the first and last page numbers. If the article appears on discontinuous page numbers, give all page numbers separated with commas between them.

Example:

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, A1, A4.

In-Text Paraphrase:

(Author's Last Name, Year)

Example: (Schwartz, 1993)

In-Text Quote:

(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Schwartz, 1993, A1)

Title of article: Subtitle if any. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Name of Newspaper, SectionPage.

Note: If an author's name is not given, do not include an author in the citation; however, if the article is signed "Anonymous," then use "Anonymous" in place of the author's name. 

Example:

Get on board for train safety. (2012, June 17). The New York Times, A14.

In-Text Paraphrase:

("One two or three words from the title", Year)

Example: ("Get on board", 2012)

Note: Choose one or more words from the title, enough to clearly identify the article. Use double quotation marks around the words from a title of an article in the in-text citation.

In-Text Quote:

("One two or three words from the title", Year, Page Number)

Example: ("Get on board," A14)

Note: Choose one or more words from the title, enough to clearly identify the article. Use double quotation marks around the words from title of an article in the in-text citation.